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Petrochemical-3 Center
Yafa Street, Baghdad
33°??'N 44°??'E

The Iraqi nuclear weapons effort, which was directed from the PC-3 headquarters received raw uranium for processing from mines at Ukashat. Seven facilities were promiment in the calutron enrichment program. Four of these facilities, al-Jesira, al-Atheer and al-Rabbiyah and al-Dijjla at Zafaraniyah, had not been identified by American intelligence as being associated with the nuclear weapons program and consequently escaped any significant damage from coalition airstrikes during the Gulf War. The three other facilities -- Tuwaitha, Tarmiya, and al-Fajar -- were previoiusly identified by American intelligence as being associated with the nuclear weapons program and suffered extensive damage during the War. Another program for the production of uranium under the Petrochemical-3 project used gas centrifuge enrichment, with two facilities at Al Furat and Rashidiya, and a third under construction at Taji.

Petrochemical-3 Center, located in central Baghdad, was a complex of five office buildings that housed the Iraqi nuclear weapons design effort. Inspection of this site in September 1991 yielded documentary proof of the Iraqi nuclear weapons program.

The new headquarters of the nuclear weapons program was in a facility in Baghdad across from the Sheraton and Meridian hotels. This site was not bombed during the war.

Design Center Hayat al-Tasamim, which was associated with the IAEC's "PC-3" nuclear weapons project, is located in an eight story building on Yafa Street across from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. Projects for which the design center was responsible included the redesign of the al-Atheer plant in anticipation of inspections by teams from the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The facility was redesigned to appear as though it had no nuclear function. This included the removal of incriminating labels on nuclear-related areas within the site as well as name plates from pieces of equipment. Engineers at the Design Center have twice rearranged al-Atheer. The first rearrangement occurred in 1991 time frame, the second took engineers at the center working late hours to accomplish the job. [GulfLink]

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